The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) Release 10 (R10) standard supports the concept of component carrier aggregation. The standard works on the assumption that all component carriers may operate on licensed spectrum with exclusive rights for operation by the cellular network operators who own the spectrum. The standard supports operation of up to five component carriers simultaneously where one component carrier may be assigned to be the primary/anchor component carrier, while the remaining component carriers may be considered secondary component carriers.